Tips for a Pre-K Hunter?

[burgessbogy]

Pre-K regarding experience, not age.
Hi everyone! I am a bonafide history GEEK with a passion for relics and artifacts. For years, I've done all my hunting on concrete - pursuing antique stores, flea markets, yard sales, etc.
Recently, however, I've found myself interested in what amazing finds could be found under our very feet. I am starting from scratch, as in no detector, no one to help me physically or financially, no garden tools, knives, etc. Only an intense fear of snakes and an allergy to wasps.
How would you instruct a newbie to get her feet wet? Where I live (SEArkansas) there are a ton of old abandoned houses and house spots, but no one in this area does much hunting/digging as far as I know.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

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[Dwight S]

Welcome and to answer your question, just dive right in! As for detector, you don’t say what your budget is or what soil conditions are. Some red iron rich clays cause some detectors issues. But if your soil is fairly loose, topsoil or sand, then most any detector will work for you. Detecting is a lot like fishing, you can get started inexpensively or you can go out and make a big splash with a high end detector.
To start, I’d recommend a middle of the line detector like a Garrett Ace 350, Garrett AT-Pro or AT-Gold. Others will recommend detectors by White’s, Tesoro, Technetics or Fisher. Any of these detectors will work well; it will all depend on your budget and your comfort level. I honesty prefer the Garrett line because they are really simple to get started with. You can basically turn them on, ground balance and go to detecting. You don’t have to worry about complicated settings that can adversely affect depth.
At a minimum, you’ll need a detector, a digging tool (garden trowel), and a finds pouch (nail apron from Lowes).
If you are hunting mostly farm fields, woods and old abandonded home sites, a short handle trenching shovel is good to have.
While not required, a pinpointer is something that most detectorists will recommend. They will help you locate and recover your find quicker, allowing you to get back to detecting.
Can’t help with snakes or wasps, but if you’ll wait a couple of months til cold weather, both of those will be harder to find.

 

[A/CMan]

Dwight has some sound advice, I know the ace350 is a great machine to use and kellyco still may have the special on the ace that comes with headphones trowel and pouch, as for being out in the woods hunting I defiantly would have mosquito spray , canteen, cell phone and let someone know we're your going, just in case and like Dwight said dive in and have some fun, AC